The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed report on the Financial Services Subcommittee-cleared measure to fund the FCC and FTC in FY 2022 seeks further work on changes to USF contribution rules and wants additional study of how municipal broadband can expand connectivity access. The committee was still considering the underlying bill late Tuesday afternoon. Dueling panels of telecom policy officials disagreed on how lawmakers should translate into legislation the $65 billion broadband component in a bipartisan infrastructure package framework President Joe Biden endorsed last week (see 2106240070).
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Prioritize broadband support in areas with less than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps uploads, a NARUC broadband task force recommended Friday. At its final virtual meeting, the group unanimously adopted that and other amended recommendations that will be drafted into proposed resolutions for the Telecom Committee to consider at NARUC’s July 18-21 meeting. Another edit responded to ISP concerns about not enough appreciation for that sector (see 2106020077).
ViacomCBS moves Tanya Giles to chief programming officer-streaming, Paramount+ and Pluto TV, a new post, and “expanded global responsibilities” are for CBS President-CEO George Cheeks, also as chief content officer-news and sports, Paramount+; Paramount Pictures Chairman-CEO Jim Gianopulos, also chief content officer-movies, Paramount+; President-Music, Music Talent, Programming and Events Bruce Gillmer also is chief content officer-music, Paramount+; MTV Entertainment Group President Chris McCarthy adds chief content officer, unscripted entertainment and adult animation, Paramount+; Showtime Networks Chairman-CEO David Nevins expands to also be chief content officer, scripted originals, Paramount+; Nicole Clemens is president-Paramount Television Studios, now including president, Paramount+ original scripted series; and Kids & Family Entertainment President Brian Robbins adds chief content officer-kids and family, Paramount+.
Telecom-focused lawmakers want to see more information on how a bipartisan infrastructure proposal President Joe Biden backed Thursday structures broadband spending. Some Democrats also cited a likely follow-up bill to address, via budget reconciliation, infrastructure spending not in this compromise as a potential vehicle for more connectivity money. The Biden-backed deal includes $65 billion for broadband, the same the administration previously offered during unsuccessful talks with Senate Republicans (see 2105270072).
As in-person events return this summer and fall (see 2103240003), organizers are opting for relatively light-touch health precautions such as spacing out lunch breaks or sessions to try to prevent larger gatherings of attendees, they told Communications Daily in an unofficial survey of tech and telecom events. Some health experts said mandatory masks or required vaccinations for attendees would be the surest guarantee for safety. But that's not a common approach events are taking, we found.
LTD Broadband “misrepresented the facts” in its waiver request for eligible telecom carrier designation as a winning Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction bidder, the California Public Utilities Commission told the FCC in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 19-126. The CPUC said LTD didn’t file its ETC application April 26, instead June 3 after close of business. The PUC said the docket number cited in LTD’s petition didn’t exist and its ETC application “to date has not been assigned a docket number because the filing still has not been processed.” Attorney Kristopher Twomey said he sent "an original and four copies of the application to the CPUC by U.S. mail" on April 26 but "did not know that the CPUC was not accepting applications sent via U.S. mail" then, according to a supplement to LTD's petition filed Wednesday. Twomey acknowledged in the filing that the April 26 date and the docket number were incorrect, and neither LTD CEO Corey Hauer nor his attorney "had any basis to know that these statements were inaccurate."
Univision Communications will launch a streaming service in the U.S. and Latin America next year with ad-supported and premium subscription-based options, it said Monday. Pricing will be announced after the Televisa-Univision transaction is completed later this year (see 2104140067). The service will include “more Spanish-language originals than any other streaming service,” the company said. Univision’s current streaming and on-demand services will “be transitioned and unified into one global service and brand.” The free tier will have more than 100 linear channels and a news service; the subscription tier will include more than 6,000 hours of Spanish-language content and more than 30 original productions, it said. See also the personals section of this issue.
Advertising-supported VOD growth could stall due to content fragmentation, and the move toward original programming will worsen this, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon blogged Sunday. A chief problem is that not all services are available on all devices, the analyst said, citing NBCUniversal's Peacock not being available to Amazon Fire TV users.
Updated wireless emergency alert/emergency alert service rules approved 4-0 by FCC commissioners Thursday (see 2106170063) explain more fully than the draft order why the commission declined to take up a New York City Emergency Management request, per our comparison of the draft with the approved order. NYCEM asked the FCC to require government entities that originate WEAs to file mandatory false alert reports as part of a pact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The commission said now that while the update sets up a voluntary system for reporting false alerts, doing so seems consistent with requirements in last year's National Defense Authorization Act, so the agency declined to take up NYCEM's request.
The Maine legislature passed a video franchise bill Thursday after the House amended it to remove language that would have defined video service providers as public utilities. The bill (LD-920) passed 21-13 in the Senate and 83-60 in the House and goes next to Gov. Janet Mills (D). The original reason for the utility definition was to enable the Public Utilities Commission to assess the necessary fee to cover franchise oversight, sponsor Rep. Christopher Kessler (D) told us. “The PUC says that the changes in the amendment will still enable them to assess that fee solely for the franchise oversight, which is in conformity with the federal Cable Act.” The amendment also clarifies “that we are only requiring that video service providers pay for the cost of equipment used to manage or deliver signal to that provider,” emailed Kessler. “There is no ‘gold plated’ equipment being allowed for purposes beyond sending and receiving their video.” Small towns “have been outgunned when it comes to the terms and enforcement of the provisions of their franchise agreements,” added Kessler. “This bill gives those towns the legal support they need, which is well within the legal authority granted to us under the Cable Act.” The office of Mills, who had intervened to seek changes (see 2106110067), didn’t comment Friday.